Porsche's LA Experience Center to hone both human- and horse-power

The United States may or may not be getting its own Nurburgring track, but it is definitely getting another German track import. Porsche is in the process of building a new "Experience Center" in the greater Los Angeles area, where it will headquarter its North American Motorsport division.

Porsche announced the new experience center last November. It will be its fifth such facility worldwide and its second in the United States, following the one being built at Porsche North America headquarters in Atlanta. The LA center will span 53 acres (21.45 hectares) and include a test track and handling course.

This week, Porsche announced that it will re-headquarter Porsche Motorsport North America to the Carson, California Experience Center from Santa Ana, California, bolstering the new center's focus on performance and motorsports. The test track and handling course will include simulated snow, rain and ice, as well as an off-road area with 45-degree inclines and declines.

The center won't just be about maximizing the performance of your car – it will also be about maximizing the performance potential of yourself. Porsche calls it the Human Performance Center, but the rest of the world can probably just call it a gym. Porsche says that the new gym will offer a variety of programs aimed at increasing fitness, wellness and athletic performance, including training programs that incorporate the latest techniques used to train its race car drivers.

In order to round the Experience Center out for non-car-freak family members and friends, Porsche will build staples like a restaurant, gift shop and track viewing areas. It will also integrate business meeting space.

Porsche will get started on construction this summer and plans to have the center ready by fall 2013.